The European Union Water Framework Directive and the ecological status assessment of inland waters

Abstract

Upon accession to the European Union in June 2004, Poland recognized the legal jurisdiction of community laws, including that of the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC). This directive effected a fundamental shift, at least in member countries, in the approach to water management which included classification and assessment methods for inland waters. The WFD provides principles for assessing the status of entire aquatic ecosystems based on various biological elements or organism assemblages inhabiting waters (Soszka and Lyche Solheim 2011). The WFD sets forth provisions for the development of national assessment systems, with the novel requirement of taking into consideration reference conditions, according to which the degree of transformation in a given area of surface waters is assessed. River basin management plans created according to WFD provisions should include all surface waters within natural hydrographic units, which are divided into water segments and include surface water categories of rivers, lakes, transitional waters, coastal waters, and artificial and heavily modified water bodies. The WFD also underscores the necessity and provides general guidelines for developing the appropriate tools for conducting assessments of surface water status. The biological elements should include the following parameters and groups of organisms: composition, abundance, and biomass of phytoplankton; composition and abundance of other aquatic flora; composition and abundance of benthic invertebrates; composition, abundance, and age structure of ichthyofauna. Unfortunately, this definitive list excludes zooplankton, which has been established by science as being a significant bioindicator (e.g., Karabin 1985).